Electronic structure and crystal-field states in V2O3*

We have calculated the electronic structure of V2O3 associated with the V3+ ions taking into account strong on-site electron correlations and the spin-orbit coupling. Closely lying 9 states of the subterm 3T1g are a physical reason for exotic phenomena of V2O3. Electronic structure and magnetism of V3+ ions in the octahedral surroundings are strongly susceptible to lattice distortions and magnetic interactions. Our approach accounts both for the insulating ground state, magnetism, including its orbital contribution, as well as thermodynamical properties.